Country music fans who haven’t gotten enough of their favorite artists after Wednesday’s CMA Awards can head back to Bridgestone Arena Friday night to see many of the stars featured on that show and a few more on top of that.

Brad Paisley, second from left, performs with special guest Alabama's Jeff Cook, left, Teddy Gentry and Randy Owen as Paisley sings his new song "Old Alabama" during Play On, Nashville concert at the Grand Ole Opry May 3, 2011.

From listening to them talk, it’s hard to tell who is more excited about the new Alabama tribute album, “Alabama & Friends” — the group who made the songs famous or today’s artists who were chosen to perform the covers.

“What was important to me was that wonderful music that I had either written, co-written, recorded or sang, that it was being looked at favorably by some great artists and that it was going to live again,” Owen says. “I feel like I’m living again.”

When Cassadee Pope joined coach Blake Shelton’s team on TV reality competition “The Voice” in the fall of 2012, she did it as a pop singer. But country star Shelton wasted little time before he started showcasing her voice on his genre’s songs.

Pope went on to win “The Voice” in December and has since signed a country record deal with Republic Nashville, she has toured with Rascal Flatts and she is set to release her debut album this fall.

But on Tuesday she’ll enjoy another career milestone: her Opry debut. And just because she started out as a pop singer, don’t think the honor is lost on Pope.

“People don’t realize that country music is my background and that’s what I sang as a kid,” she said in an interview with The Tennessean last week. “I went through my rock phase, but now I’m back in a place where I feel the roots coming back from country music. I’m just infusing all of them into one. The Opry has always been something I wanted to do and as a kid I covered all the artists that sang on the Opry stage.”

The Band Perry performs at LP Field Sunday night during the 2013 CMA Music Festival. (photo: Larry McCormack / The Tennessean)

The Band Perry is headlining Nashville’s free Independence Day celebration Let Freedom Sing! at The Lawn in Riverfront Park and even though they are working, members still plan to make time for their favorite July 4th tradition – food.

“Fourth of July is collectively one of our top two favorite holidays,” says the sibling trio’s Kimberly Perry. “We have a lot of family traditions around that day … We always make fried chicken so we’re going to have fried chicken on the bus.”

The police department is anticipating 150,000 people will turn out for the festivities and like the downtown celebration is seeing growth, the trio says that following their most recent hits “Better Dig Two” and “Done,” they’ve seen a uptick in the number of people at their concerts, too.

“Over the last couple of months we’ve seen this huge fervor at The Band Perry shows, more people coming out and more singing and dancing along,” says the band’s bass player Reid Perry.

A festival-goer takes a swing at the Lipton Tea Up and Win game at Fan Alley on Thursday. (photo: Jay Powell)

Many CMA Music Festival-goers were looking for a place to cool off in the heat of the afternoon on Thursday. Many headed to Fan Alley for a cold drink and some fun and games.

Tucked into an area in front of Schermerhorn Symphony Center, Fan Alley is a free access spot where anyone can stop by and take a swing at the Lipton Tea Up and Win game, order a few drinks from the Jack Daniel’s bar, play for giveaways at the Dunkin’ Donuts booth, buy a complete set of Duck Dynasty bobble-heads, and, yes, listen to more live music on the HGTV's The Lodge Stage.

For beer drinkers afraid of the high vendor prices, one of the better drink deals was located inside Fan Alley at the Team Cocktail lounge. There, customers could buy a 32-ounce plastic mug of beer for $15, with $10 refills, and the deal is valid all weekend. Guests also could try different cocktails designed by the stars themselves.

Long lines are a given when there are so many people trying to see everything at once. Some will wait hours for a chance to be the first to see their favorite artists. Pennsylvania native Debbie Sylvester and her daughter, Jennifer, had been waiting patiently since 8:30 a.m. to see their idol, Hunter Hayes. With so many things to do over the weekend, the Sylvesters were playing it by ear.

“We were at the CMT Awards last night ... we’re going to the [City of Hope Celebrity] softball game on Saturday for the charity fundraiser,” Debbie Sylvester says. “We wish Rascal Flatts was playing, but they’re not this year.”

Pickler kicked off the Tuesday Night Opry in a fitted purple dress and a wide smile with “Stop Cheating on Me,” a song she says is her favorite from her last album “100 Proof.” The crowd held up “10” paddles after she finished, a nod to her “Dancing” days.

“That’s so sweet,” she said. “I wish you all could have been the judges.”

Pickler’s husband songwriter Kyle Jacobs was in the house, as was the other man in her life: dance partner Hough.

Pickler didn’t introduce him from the stage, but he was present — mirror-ball trophy in hand — during a backstage party organized to celebrate their win.

“He’s such a great sport,” Pickler said. “He’s embraced everything but it’s really cool he was able to be here tonight for this special get-together. I didn’t realize it was going to be all of this. I was at a little loss for words. I feel like thank you is an understatement. You can’t win that by yourself.”

During the party, Grand Ole Opry Vice President and General Manager Pete Fisher recalled Pickler’s debut on the “Opry” and how she sat down on the stage’s historic circle to sing her songs that night.